Over the years, different booths and enclosures have been provided for indoor and outdoor telephone units such as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,571,988, 3,338,002, 3,275,279, 3,247,332, 3,164,868, 3,300,917, 2,982,593 and 2,104,425. The enclosures are generally of two types, the first being a walk-in booth in which a door is opened to permit a person to enter and exit from a booth which contains a mounted telephone unit assembly. An enclosure of this first type is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,104,425.
A second type of telephone enclosure is one which is adapted to partially enclose a mounted telephone unit. Enclosure units of the second type are illustrated in the various patents identified in the above paragraph. The invention disclosed and claimed herein primarily relates to the second type of enclosure for partially enclosing a mounted telephone unit; however, it is appreciated that various features of the invention disclosed and claimed herein could be incorporated in walk-in type enclosure booths.
It has been found that enclosure assemblies presently available for use with telephone units suffer from certain disadvantages.
Some enclosures are too bulky and heavy and require more than one person to install or repair the enclosure. Other enclosures involve an excessive number of component parts such that the installation of the unit is quite time-consuming and increases the overall cost of the enclosure. Still further, other units suffer from the disadvantage that vandals can too easily destroy or otherwise remove the telephone assembly enclosure because the fastening means for connecting various enclosure components are not tamper-proof and are too visible or accessible to a vandal.
It is desired to eliminate the problems associated with telephone enclosures presently available by utilization of a telephone enclosure which preferably is relatively lightweight and comprise only a few component parts whereupon, in installation, only one installer is required to assemble the enclosure. Additionally, it is desired that in the event repair of a unit is required the necessary repairs can be completed quickly and preferably by only one repair person.
Additionally, it is desired that the enclosure assembly include an easy access directory holder for a telephone directory whereby the holder, in substantially all instances, can be moved from a closed to an open access position with all information on any chosen directory page being displayed in an unobstructed manner.